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Registered Member #509
Joined: Sat Feb 10 2007, 07:02AM
Location:
Posts: 329
Stereo microscopes make stuff like that so much easier to do. IF you can get one, go for it, if not, get a webcam with manual adjustable focus (not fixed focus) and start cranking the lens out. I got suprising magnification from a $15 webcam from hong kong off of ebay. Though you could only use it for inspection not for working under.
As far as solder paste, I'd avoid it unless you were putting it down with a sencil/paste printer. Little balls going where you dont want them too always seem to be a pain. I use .015" Kester 44 (only thing I'd consider besides tin/lead would be tin/lead/silver, at least for now) and a nice long conical tip for the iron. Lots of rosin flux, one pin at a time. If the height of the pin vs the space between pins is alright, and there is a good solder mask you can drag solder. But I put down a CF card connector the other day and the pins were too thick, and drag soldering just wasnt happening.
Only packages I havent been able to put down by had was a 3mm X 3mm mini circuits RF splitter/combiner with pads on the bottom only what was on the edge was so thin I couldnt touch it with my ultra fine conical tip, and BGA's
I'd reccomend a weller WP80 pencil iron and any power supply/station that will run it. Nice regulation but upto 80 watts behind it, I have yet to get it stuck when using an approprate tip size for the job.
Registered Member #1062
Joined: Tue Oct 16 2007, 02:01AM
Location:
Posts: 1529
I soldered the chip today. Could you guys tell me if it looks good? The magnification was the best I could do with a consumer point and shoot 10MP camera. I used the drag soldering method with RMA flux (fully activated). I found a bottle of old nail polish remover (methyl ethyl ketone, isopropyl alcohol are the first two ingredients), and cleaned all the flux. At first, I used a paper towel, then I got smart and used a microfiber cloth for cleaning eyeglasses. In the picture, the white stuff in between the legs would be the towel (I assume it won't be a problem)? When not powered, it is fine to use quite a bit of liquid, right? The alcohol was all over it).
Registered Member #1792
Joined: Fri Oct 31 2008, 08:12PM
Location: University of California
Posts: 527
It looks good to me, bits of towel shouldn't be a big problem, unless there is anything conductive in it from the flux. For cleaning between fine part leads like that I snap the handle of a wood-handled Q-tip, so I get a fine point. But you can scrape it out with whatever you have handy. Dental type tools can be useful for that.
Using lots of liquid is perfectly fine. While I'm working I'll clean it with isopropyl or acetone and Q-tips, then when I'm done I dunk it in an ultrasonic cleaner, and rinse it in the sink afterwards. That will also usually get the gunk out from between part leads. Then I blow the water off with compressed air. The only thing you have to worry about is stuff like switches and connectors where water can get stuck, then corrode or short things. In that cause I'd throw it in an oven at low temperature for a while to dry it out.
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methods for soldering .5mm pitch
